Unlikely Alliance
by Alden-san
Summary: Ino and Naruto have been vying for the affections of two people: Sasuke and Sakura. Now that the two have hooked up, both of these fine ninja have fallen into a funk... (Rewrite of The Plan...)
1. Prologue

Darkness had curled around the large village, hiddenn in it's lush forests and groves, the only showing factoer in the outside world being a rising mountain, with a group of faces carved into it -- the great leaders of Kohona, the great Hokages... But our story does not concern them. We must focus on a smaller scene...  
  
Unbidden rain, unseen except when caught in wandering lanternlight, falls almost silently as two men sit, talking closely about recent events. They are alone, sitting at a table that belongs to a restaurant nearby. They speak calmly, as no-one is near. Who would venture out into the storm? They laugh, at a joke from one of the men...  
  
One, a little younger but seeming much more mature than the other, glares at his partner unbelievingly... The man must have said something strange, or new, to his friend. The younger one shaks his head, looking sad.What happened?  
  
The older man shrugs, and begins to tell the younger man more. His headband, signifying his alleigence to the leaf, and his graduation into becoming a ninja, shines in the light of a portable light... He is an adult, and a Jounin... A warrior of his country, and a teacher.   
  
"Iruka," he says, "Ino..."  
  
"What, Kakashi?" the younger, brown-haired man turns his head to look behind him. "Ino?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Unlikely Alliance  
  
Prologue  
  
V. 2  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, etc. I hae a distinct feeling that Masashi Kisimoto-sama owns it...  
  
Note: This is a rewrite - Formerly know as The Plan, sorta AUish where Sasuke doesn't leave the village (late 100's)  
  
~~~  
  
A young girl is barely visible through the deluge, and she is a bedraggled mess. Her hair fell slightly past the shoulders, it's natural golden hue soaked into a dull sandy colour. Her clothes consisted of a dirty, white t-shirt that ended at her knees, and a pair of ripped shorts of an unsightly green. Her blue-green eyes, so cheerful and bright, blazed with resentment.  
  
"Ohayou, Kakashi-san, Iruka-sensei..." she said in a dull, raspy voice, glaring at the two surprised ninjas.  
  
"Ino-chan? But..." Iruka was visibly changed, his light, worried air now stripped down to bare guilt and worry. "What... happened..."  
  
He could have smacked himself. She chases a guy around for so long, he suddenly tturns around her and falls in with her rival, and he asks what happened? There was something wrong with him, he was sure...  
  
"You know, I was so sure... that it would... work out..." her head lowered, as she shuffled closer. "But," sje smiled weakly, "it's not like anyone was supportive of the thought anyways, right? I mean, except you, Kakashi-san... I don't think it would have mattered to you, would've made it easier... I guess just bad luck, right? If only you'd made the first move..."  
  
Woah, that was a hit.. The silver-haired ninja is taken aback, and suddenly looks as if there was nothing more importnat than keeping his self-control... JUST above Ino's slow, agonizing death...  
  
"Ino, that was uncalled for..." Iruka could see his friend's reaction, and looked to take action to stop it.  
  
"Oh sorry... I guess it was... I'm surprised, really, that you noticed though. Your perceptive skills were second-lowest ranked in the last... eight, Jounin exams? Right between your abhorrent stealth and your near-average jutsus... You're pretty good at transforming, though, aren't you? That, and you can survive a giant shuriken in the back and avoid going to the hospital..."  
  
Now, Ino was either VERY angry or VERY stupid... or both... because you didn't insult a ninja, OR bring up little nudges about bad things in the past... and Mizui was DEFINATELY a bad thing in the past... Now she had a Jounin AND a Chuunin angry at her.   
  
"Ino..." Iruka said, shaking. "Leave."  
  
"If you really want me too... " she shrugged, and headed off in the other direction, smiling a little in her misery. Misery loves company... but it loves more to cause it.  
  
~~~  
  
A young boy sat, on the same night, contemplating some things. The loss of his love to his rival, his worth as a ninja, and Nidaime's nose...  
  
"Damn Sasuke, gets everything. Finally catch up, and this happens... Sharingan, Kage Bunshin; Chidori, Rasengan... I've always caught up, and now that I finally have a chance... Sakura-chan..." the boy broke out into sobs, fully convinced that she loved him no more than an ugly carpet she might have to bear having in her bedroom, because her mother liked it...  
  
If it hadn't been so sudden, if only there was time to ease into the idea... No, Sasuke suddenly stops walking in the middle of Sakura's tirade of his blankness and ignorance, and the idiot turns around and pulls Sakura into a passionate kiss... leaving a yelling Ino and a happy Naruto speechless... and joyless...  
  
Naruto had run to seek solitude, to find a place where he could sit and cry... and Shodaime's nose was a nice, flat place to sit, right up on the monument.. In his solitude, it got worse. Old feelings of lonliness and sadness rushed ouit, and the boy had st there since afternoon. It was well into the night now, and he was still sitting there...  
  
"Why am I even powerful? It's not even me, just the stupid fox... If I didn't have IT, I'd be useless... without it, all I'd summon would be a tadpole.. without it, I'd be as weak as Konohamaru..." He gave the smallest of humourless laughs, and looked down. Suicide was too easy...  
  
Nidaime's nose was looking mighty annoying right now...  
  
~~~  
  
"Ino..."  
  
"Leave me alone!"  
  
"Ino... please..."  
  
"NO! I. just. want. to. sleep..."  
  
"But, Ino, honey... It's okay..."  
  
Ino held up a hand, swiftly dismissing her poor mother, who left the door open a tiny bit and alked down to her husband and tell her aboiut his daughter's refusal. Meanwhile, Ino snuggeld up in her warm covers, and thought of Sasuke...  
  
And Sakura... What had happened, to fuel such an event? She'd never seen Sasuke so... happy... 'He needs someone to love... but that person should be me...' she thought silently as sleep took her under its wing.  
  
~~~  
  
"Ino, Naruto..." Kakashi said on Monday morning, looking at the two genins with pleasure in his eyes. Kakashi wasn't a sadist, but oh, how he LOVED giving punishments...  
  
"What?" a grumpy Naruto said, glaring at his teacher.  
  
"Yeah, perv, what's up?" Ino demanded, smirking. "Nursing a wound?"  
  
"Both of you are charged and convicted of crimes against Konoha... You, Ino, caused massive amounts of vandalism, and you, Nsruto, caused one huge act of vandalism... Therefore, you both shall stay off missions for an unpaid holiday, four weeks, as is the punishent is altered for those with emotional burdens. Kakashi's alternative to psychological help..."  
  
"Kakashi-sensei... HOW AM I GONNA PAY THE BLLS!?" Naruto burst out. "Those are my only source of income! I need electricity, and food, and, y'know..."  
  
Ino was surprised, in a way. For the first time, she realised that Naruto lived alone, like Sasuke... but he didn't have an insanely large inheritance like said Uchiha. 'No wonder he dresses so shabbily...'m But her next surprise was just to come...  
  
"You'll be living... in Yamanaka-san's spare room..."  
  
"WHAT!?" Ino screamed. "MY DAD WOULDN'T-"  
  
"Your mother..."  
  
"But... she's WORSE! No offense to you personally, but my mom has this 'thing' about you..." Ino turned to Naruto, and was subsequently surprised by his understanding look... had he done something to her parents she didn't know about? Heck, Ino knew EVERYTHING! What could it.... be...  
  
"I'm living... with... HER?" Naruto was incredulous. "WHAT THE HELL!?"  
  
Kakashi disappeared...  
  
~~~  
  
Ino sat on her bed, feeling a mix of weirdness, annoyance, anger, boredom and gladness. She'd never had anyone else sleep in her house but her and her parents...And what had happened with her parents and Naruto? Or Naruto in general? Before the Chuunin exam, bring up Naruto and prepare to be scolded, snapped at or smacked over the head... Why?  
  
She's be able to find out... and that made this worth it.  
  
'I just hope he showers...'  
  
------  
  
YES! End chapter one of 'Unlikely Alliance'...  
  
Is this better than the original? I wasn't too sure about this.. I'm having trouble with chp. seven of The Plan... so I'm trying to make a more descriptive one... I reread the original prologue, and didn't really like it, but I feel more satisfied with this one... I'm also hoping to expand on some scenes I skipped over, and everything... Is this worth continuing?  
  
-Alden, Elite Jounin, signing out! 


	2. Chapter One: Clothed Appropriately

The clock read 4:00am, and the Yamanaka household was very alive, especially one young kunoichi who was inside, screaming in fury and annoyance.  
  
Ino sat on her bed, hoping that Naruto would get out of the shower soon. Apparently, her suspicions about his hygiene were wrong in immense proportions... It had been fifty minutes, and he was still in there...  
  
"Stupid Naruto..." she muttered to herself, shaking her head. How, if he was so clean-obsessed, did he seem so... dirty? He was always smelling, and he was pretty sure that it wasn't him... She'd have to ask him about that later. For now, though, she'd submit to her urge to scream...  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! NARUTO!" she screamed and got up from her bed, fully ready to go over and pound down the door down...  
  
"I'm out!" Naruto called, presumably from the bathroom, and Ino raced to the door. In her haste she didn't notice that Naruto standing at her door.. and they has a collision. Well, THIS was awkward... Naruto, with only his towel, and Ino, sprawled on him, their noses bumping painfully. Only more painful was the CRACK that came from Naruto's back. Ino quickly rose, ashamed and embarrassed.  
  
"INO! You could have NOT run me over in your frantic rush to clean your hair..." he grumbled, sitting up. "If only it was Sakura-chan..."  
  
"HENTAI! NO WONDER you're in Kakashi's team!" Ino screamed, her embarrassment gone suddenly as she smashed the boy over the head and headed for the bathroom. 'Honestly...'  
  
Only one thought ran through his mind as he lay there, sprawled out on the Yamanaka's hall floor. 'Am I... a pervert?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Unlikely Alliance  
  
Chapter One: Clothed Appropriately  
  
V. 2  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ino sighed as she slowly moved her lipstick across her lips, thinking furiously about the blond genin who was currently on her mother's spare room bed. It was the first day of their punishment, and she was wondering how this would all turn out. Also, who WAS he, really? I mean, who were his parents? What happened to them? The kyubi? 'Maybe, but not likely...' she thought, 'There would be at least ONE 'Uzumaki' on the heroes monument...'.  
  
'There must be some connection, shouldn't there be? Between my parents', and everyone else's, seeming hate or disregard for Naruto and his absent parents? What could it be? Were... were his parents missing-nins? Leaving a newborn baby to live alone? Ino had no memory of Naruto EVER having parents, it seemed... Who'd raised him, really? because there was no-one to take care of him when he was too small to look after himself...  
  
Then the realization REALLY hit her... Naruto hadn't had parents. When he learned to throw a shuriken, there was no one to tell happily, when he was sad, no-one to hug or comfort him... The thought really made Ino shudder, and think sadly of all the times she'd woken from a bad nightmare, or when she'd scraped a knee, all of the hugs that Naruto didn't get, and she did... She felt ashamed, when she was picking out presents for her tenth birthday, Naruto had to buy groceries and pay bills... This was sick, truly and utterly. How could the Konoha council, or whoever, do something like that? Sasuke, at least had a decent amount of money left from his family...  
  
'Naruto must've lived on something... Don't be stupid, Ino, it's none of your business. Naruto obviously doesn't want pity, or anything like that you should stop those kind of thoughts at the root.' Ino scolded herself mentally, then put the lipstick in a drawer and headed out of the room to greet her family.  
  
Heading down the hall to her kitchen, the stopped in the doorway, surprised. There were her parents, sitting calmly at the table eating breakfast... Normal, really... Unless you factor in Ino's mother and father talking to Naruto between bites in a nice, friendly matter... Ino hoped this wasn't something bad, and just that they'd accepted the fact that this boy was going to be staying with them for a while, and had learned to grin and bear it...  
  
Then Ino saw her father reach over and ruffle his hand in Naruto's hair, like a familiar adult or parent would. For the girl who hadn't expected her parent to be even CIVIL to the boy, this was weird, and unexpected. 'What's going on?' she asked herself, knowing that she just had to find the answer, or else she'd go insane...  
  
"Ohayou, Ino-chan!" her father greeted her warmly. "I gotta day off, so I'm, y'know, gonna be around all day!"   
  
That made Ino grin. "Ohayou Mama, Dad... Naruto..." she said, sitting across the table from him, quickly assessing the table. 'Cereal today, ok, I'll just grab my...'  
  
"THEY'RE ALL GONE! YOU!" Ino made a rush to strangle Naruto.  
  
Naruto, busy contemplating the Sasuke/Sakura incident, was too absorbed in his thoughts to realise Ino was even there, until her hands were around his throat and she was yanking his head around. Too dozy to do anything, and unconsciously knowing she wouldn't REALLY hurt him, he just waited...  
  
"Ino-chan, please don't strangle a guest..." Ino's mom whined teasingly. Ino HATED it when her mother whined, and she knew that she did it on purpose to annoy her. She sat back down, and grabbed her next favourite cereal. "I'll go out or groceries today, Mama... Naruto, you comin'?"  
  
THIS was weird, but Naruto wasn't one to pass up an offer to go anywhere with someone if they were willing, even a boring grocery store. What he didn't know is that Ino was planning on making HIM carry it all... "Sure, Ino..." he said hesitantly  
  
~~~  
  
While they headed down the aisles, Naruto looked around. Ino took a quick assessment in her head.  
  
"Naruto, get anything you want," Ino wasn't one to waste words. Her family had plenty to spare, with a Jounin and a shopowner bringing in money.  
  
"...ANYTHING?" This concept was strange to Naruto, who'd had to scrimp and save to buy the essentials. "Really, Ino?"  
  
"Yeah, we have enough..." Ino didn't care if it sounded like she was bragging, because... well, that's how Ino is, really...  
  
Naruto's eyes widened in glee, and he set about picking things off shelves, with Ino just behind picking up the family foods she needed. Within twenty minutes, their cart was full and they were paying.  
  
"15,000 ¥ please," an elderly woman said in a droning voice, her dull, yellow-green uniform not matching the smart blue ones worn by the other cashiers.  
  
"With pleasure!" Ino said, proffering a credit card.  
  
After finishing, the woman passed the card back and said, "Have a nice day..."  
  
The two young shinobi walking out, Naruto almost crushed with the weight of the bags, and Ino sighing with relief. Naruto had a question, and since Ino knew everything about fashions and clothes in Konoha, she would know this one easy.  
  
"Why was that lady wearing that ugly yellow, and the others wearing blue?" Naruto asked her.  
  
"She said the new measurements didn't fit her, and she wanted the company to save some money so they could pay her more, so she kept her old uniform when the store change uniforms. Hey Naruto?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How many sets of clothes you have?"  
  
"Five..."  
  
Ino was thunderstruck. "FIVE!? FIVE!? I WEAR FIVE SETS OF CLOTHES IN TWO DAYS!" she almost screamed,, then dragged him into a nearby clothing store.  
  
~~~  
  
"Ino! What are we doing!?" he yelled as she dragged him through the store, grabbing things from his size.   
  
"I'm just... helping out a friend!" she said enthusiastically, dragging him to the dressing room and almost literally throwing him in. "Try those on!" she said, before sitting down and waiting.  
  
There was a few bumping noises, and Ino called out, "You okay?" A muffled response, and she sighed. She heard the lock give a little CLICK!, and leaned forward eagerly...  
  
Naruto was arrayed in a pair of black jeans, a black leather jacket with a crimson t-shirt under it, and a black headband. His hair was swirled over his eyes to give him a dangerous look, and the little grin he gave perfected the look. Ino thought, 'This day just keeps getting better and better... who'd've thought that Naruto, of all people, could look hot..."  
  
Ino was only minorly flustered at this, though, and sent him back in after clapping a little.  
  
~~~  
  
An hour later they were done, and Naruto was staggering under the weight of his double load of food and clothes, with Ino carrying one box of eggs. "Why aren't YOU carrying anything?" he asked her pointedly.  
  
"I'm a girl, dumbass," With that, her fist and his head met for the first time. Meanwhile, a younger boy was watching the two...  
  
"What's Naruto-nii-chan and crazy forehead girl's friend doing together? This is a job for - KONOHAMARU CORPS! Umm... Oh no, Udon and Moegi are waiting, I'm late!" And with that, he headed off, as two genins argued loudly about the effects of too much ramen on a growing boy's body.  
  
~~~  
  
And so endeth Chp. 2!  
  
Is this better? I'm hoping... If you like Naruto clothes shopping scenes, check out Sakura and Shino's in Kagezuchi's "Butterflies"... It's cool...  
  
Should I continue this? I'm enjoying myself... Are they OOC in thois chp.? I get the feeling....  
  
- Konoha Jounin, Alden signing out!  
  
EDIT: THANKS to 'The Reviewer', a WONDERFUL person who's been popping up, first on one of my other fics (can't remember) and now this one, which brought about an edit! And also, I shall stop being a Shikamaru (lazyass) and will be spellchecking!  
  
-And note to The Reviwer: You mentioned about the ueless cliffhanger (See above at the end of this chapter...), I've just been stopping where I did in the original. And in the original, I wanted to keep it to one-event-chapters that come out often, 'stead of big(ger) ones that don't come out as often.  
  
I've been trying to make it longer... (If you notice, both of these chapers are almost twice the length, maybe off 2- or 300 altogether from that). I'll try to, but if I don't - Should I try to lengthen the chapter more, or merge two chapters?  
  
-Alden  
  
EDIT: I'm gonna make a decision... and I need help... Okay...  
  
I could probably get more done if I just wrote randomly and stuck everything I'd done at the end of the month, but you guys would have to wait a month before reading anything... -- But, what I WOULD have would keep you reading longer, so, should I:  
  
1) Keep pdating sporadically, whenever I finish things, or  
  
2) Write for a month, post things at the end.  
  
PLEASE help me with this - If you've already reviewed, I think you can do an anonymouys. I'm putting this note on all of my fics... 


	3. Chapter Two: The Plan

Ino and Naruto had spent the rest of the day bickering; Her demanding he wear ones of his new sets of clothes (he had a full wardrobe now...), and he demanding that he get to wear his favourite orange set once for the last time ("Because, with all those clothes, I'll never even SEE them again!"). All in all, it had been a tiring day, and Ino had waited all day for her nice evening read, and her beauty sleep...   
  
And now that she'd awoken, she was too sleep-filled (she couldn't think of a real word for it...) to get up. So, instead, she sent her mind out to work out one of life's real mysteries... Naruto. He, in all of his glorious being (Ino snickered at the thought...), was in itself an enigma.A boy, hated by adults for unknown reasons, pickewd on and jeered at by almost everyone his age (Ino could only think of one: Shikamaru - too lazy to bother making fun of anyone, really...) and still managed to be annoyingly optimistic about everything... Having a crush on someone that didn't realise that he (or wished he didn't) exist ...  
  
Except, with Ino and Sasuke, it was almost the same situation. Sasuke, always brooding about kunai accuracy or something boring like that, seemingly without a life...Why? For the first time, Ino actually doubted, if only for an instant, that it wasn't just another 'best ninja' goal... there was something cold and mysterious about him -- is that why she'd never thought about it? To preserve his aura of mystery?  
  
No, she was doubting herself too much. She was too in love with him to care about mystery - so she might as well work on that one too! To think of it, she hadn't heard the surname 'Uchiha' since she was a little kid... An old man, named Uchiha... Hitsu, was it? Gae her candy on the way to academy? Anyways, the old man disappeared, and that was the last time she heard it... until Sasuke-kun came... Why hadn't she made the connection?  
  
'Duh....' she argued, 'How can you keep everyone, in all their clans, straight? A millioin clan-names have been flung around, so obscure- But, Sasuke's clan wasn't obcsure, was he? And (off topic, thoughts...) who did he live with? He was an orphan (Ino knew THAT much...) but she never heard anyone associated to him family-wise...  
  
Oh well, not her business, besides she didn't need to, Sakura had him...  
  
Or did she...  
  
Maybe it wasn't time to give up...  
  
"NARUTO!!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Unlikely Alliance  
  
Chapter Two: The Plan  
  
V. 2 ~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ino..." Naruto said in a quiet voice, as they sat on Ino's burgundy sheeted bed, supported by it's oak frame. "Won't Sakura-chan be sad if we break them up...?"  
  
"No, 'cause she'll have you! Unless... you're a horrible boyfriend!" Ino teased, laughing. "I bet girls can barely stay in the same room as you!"  
  
"I am not! I'm a wonderful boyfriend!" Naruto yelled back.  
  
"Geez, Naruto, you're too easy..." Ino sighed. "Okay, don't worry, I've got it all laid out..."  
  
And afterwards, Naruto was nodding and smiling. Of COURSE Sakura wouldn't get hurt!...  
  
~~~  
  
Ino and Sakura stood, leaning on the railing of the balcony at the Concussa, a small ramen place a few blocks from Ichiraku. Ino fiddled with her hair, entwining it around her finger, and smiling a little bit. This was so much more comfortable than a ponytail... I should keep it like this! Sorta short, sorta-'  
  
"Ino..." Sakura interrupted her friends thoughts, looking worried. "Are you okay? With me... and..." Hesitant, it seemed, to say trhe name of the one who had chosen her over her best friends and rival.  
  
"Wel, yeah, I guess... There really isn't much point in debating it now..." Ino shrugged, lying with a straight face. "I can handle it..."  
  
"Okay... you're sure?"  
  
"Sure!" Ino nodded, then threw her arm around Sakur's neck. "Now we're friends again! Now..."  
  
~~~  
  
Naruto sat, stirring his ramen with a shiny spoon, watching the noodles spin in the soup. It was alomst hypnotic, that rythm... Swwosh, swoosh... Time flew by as it went 'round and 'round. Finally slurping some down, he hurried out of the ramen place, grinning.  
  
Just as he opened the sturdy wooden door, he felt as if a large weight had fallen on him, severely injuring his back. He wasn't off by too much...  
  
The balcony, looking quite strong, had exploded, sending Sakura flying to the ground, and Ino just barely holding on the edge, legs flailing.. Sakura, dazed by the fall, came to her senses and screeched, "Omigod Naruto are you okay!?"  
  
It seemed that the nice young girl he'd been thinking of so much lately had landed on him. It didn't seem to bother him much, though... maybe because his eyes were closed?  
  
"Yes~" he said, and Sakura sighed in relief, before he continued, "I do, in fact, love raspberries..."  
  
"Sakura!!! How many times do I have to ask if you're okay?" Ino yelled from the balcony, having climbed back up onto it. "Are you?"  
  
"Yeah, Ino, I'm fine! Don't worry!" Sakura yelled up, "I'm not sure about Naruto though!"  
  
"What about Naruto?"  
  
"I-" Sakura faltered at this part, red flushing through her cheeks in embarassment. "I- I landed on him, alright?"  
  
"Is he okay?" Ino asked, jumping and landing beside her friend, looking (almost) concerned.  
  
"He's out of it... come on, Ino, let's take him home... Where does he live, again?" Sakura looked to her friend for help, knowing there was almost no chance of Ino knowing.  
  
"Currently, with me, actually. Don't worry, you know it's not far..." The two girls grabbed an arm and a leg, and heaved. They were up, and Naruto, unconscious, was really heavy. Both sighed, and made their way to the Yamanaka house. Sakura, looking guiltily at her fallen teammate, turned her head to Ino and asked, "When he wakes up, could you ask him if I can treat him for ramen tomorrow? Please?"  
  
Ino waved her hand dismissively and smiled. "Of course, Sakura..."  
  
~~~  
  
Pink, blue, blurred together into an insane spiral... Epilogue of a dream... Naruto woke, fully dazed, to Ino pressing a wet cloth to his head, and muttering a string of vioent curses.  
  
"Ino?" he asked, surprised to see her so soon after waking. Where was Sakura-chan? What had happened? Why did he crave raspberries? Where was he? And why waas Ino sitting almost on his head? So many questions...  
  
"Shh... Naruto-kun..." she said, smiling a little. "Sakura-chan's huge forehead squashed you, I'm going to make sure you get better. Now, take your medicine..."  
  
"What medicine?" Naruto's eyes widened in fear. He NEVER had medicine - it supposedly tasted awful. The ones he'd seen in commericals were green and purple and blue...  
  
"Here it is..." Ino said, turned with a strange grin on her face...  
  
...and shoved her whole arm down his throat. "AHHHHHHH!"  
  
~~~  
  
Naruto woke, screaming.  
  
"Took you long enough to wake up, baka..." Ino said, sitting on a couch nearby. He was lying on their couch, it seemed. It had been a dream!  
  
"Ino... what happened?" he turned his head towards her, inquiring with his eyes. Those, Ino took no notice of, and continued.  
  
"Sakura, according to plan, fell right on top of you. You've been K.O'd for the last 2 hours," she stated simply. Naruto sat up, and looked around the nice little living room, decorated by wooden figurines, and paintings of various animals. The two soft brown couches faced eachother, with two chairs completeing the weird circle (of sorts...). Naruto sat up, and stole a quick glance at Ino, who was writing furiously on a notepad.   
  
"Whazzat?" he asked, peeking over. She closed it quickly, and smooshed it under a pillow. Making a grab for it, Naruto fiund himself on the floor with a pain in the back of his head.  
  
"Rule number one: You stay AWAY from my sketch- I mean, notebooks!" she said quickly, glaring at him out of extremely annoyed eyes. Standing and turning her head away from him, she walked from the room quickly, footsteps patting on the hard wood floor.  
  
"Ino?" he called after her, scrabbling to get up and failing miserably.  
  
~~~  
  
"How. Dare. He. Trying to look in these... I should smash his face in, y'know?" Ino sat, facing a small, soft stuffed bunny.She paused for a few seconds, then nodded. "Mmmmmmmmmmmhmm, Bunny-kun, you're right... Peace is good!" She picked up the little bunny and hugged him tight. Then, putting her fuzzy friend down, she peeked at one of the books, flipping through her sketches. She always drew one before she went to bed, and it was pretty much always Sasuke...  
  
"WHAT!?" Ino threw the book to the floor, staringat it in confusion and distaste. "Was I drunk!?"  
  
Although she might pause, for one night, from drawing her beloved Sasuke-kun to sketch someone else, maybe her sensei and/or her teammates, or her parents, there was one person that definately didn't belong with her favourite people. Because, in her tired state, she had drawn a sketch of her new housemate - one that, instaead of focusing on his ugly parts, expanded on them, and, although she hated to say it, the Naruto on the page was a little more pleasing on the eyes than the one in the next room. What had she been thinking?  
  
Shaking her head and picking them up, she thought, 'I'm glad he didn't look in those... How embarassing..." Packing them away in her small pink dresser, locking all three of the padlocks on the drawer, and tossing the keys in their respective hiding places, she looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Throwing oin some pyjama's, and immersing herself in the warm cotton sheets of her bed, was pure bliss to her tired bones.  
  
~~~  
  
Too short? I tried to lengthen it, expand more on Plan like the other chp.s, but I wasdn't sure... I'm moving the Konohamaru scene to next chapter. Expect some expansion on the poorly done Sasuke scene, and the lunch scene! Sorry for the wait!  
  
- Alden-san!  
  
(PS: How long do you think it'll take Ino to figure out Naru's secret?) 


	4. Chapter Three: Ramen

Bright green eyes greeted the dawn, opened wide. A mouth opened in a yawn, and two arms pulled pink sheets closer to a thin body. Haruno Sakura snuggled into her pillow a bit more, smiling. Turning over and sitting up, she yawned a second time, throwing her arms wide as if to tell the world she was awake. Pushing the sheets off her legs and sliding her feet into a pair of cute bunny slippers, she stood and walked to the door.   
  
"I'm up!" she called, before slipping quietly into the bathroom. She hugged herself. Today was a missionless day, full of leisure, fun...  
  
... And training... Always training. Couldn't Sasuke give it a break with the training constantly? Since Naruto had stopped coming, it was just her and him... Not that those few hours before Kakashi would turn up weren't pleasent, but in most of their spare time, he trained. And with Naruto gone, and Kakashi busy, who would he train with but her?   
  
Unfortunately, she always ached all night, until she could finally sleep. By morning, she usually felt better. She turned the tap on, put hetr head in the water and proceeded to wash her hair. And while she watched the clear fluid flow into the hole in her sink, mixed in with soap and foreign, sweet-smell shampoo, she pondered: Why Sasuke? Why not Naruto, or Kiba, or... even Chouji? What made him different?  
  
Well, for one thing, he looked absolutely wonderful. A kind of effeminate, yet masculine, grace and strength. He would flow for one move to the next, like a waterfall in a tornado... But if he was horribly disfigured, would she still love him?  
  
He was dark, brooding and self confident. He was mysterious, and had barely spoken two words to her every day until a few days ago. He was self-hating, he was proud, he was the powerful male figure in her life. Naruto was the kind of person she might want as a friend, but he was there... He had inspired her to work hard, graduate... Was he worth it?  
  
Yes. Sakura's whole body and mind agreed with that answer... because it wasn't his mystery, his beauty, his power...   
  
It was him, everything about him that made her heart sway and blood rush to her head. And he'd never be anyone else, no matter how much he could change. Always. She smiled, and turned the tap off. Sasuke was Sasuke, and that was why she loved him...  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Unlikely Alliance  
  
Chapter Three: Ramen  
  
V. 2  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Naruto! Wakeup wakeup wakeup!" Ino whacked Naruto, multiple time, over the head with a pillow. "Do I have to let the smell of burning ramen wake you up?"  
  
"RAMEN!?" Naruto sat up quickly. "Wherewherewhere!? RAAAAAMEN!"  
  
"Idiot!" Ino whacked the excited boy over the head. "No ramen for breakfest! Sakura's treating you for lunch, remember? Now get in that shower, I'll see you in an hour!" She stormed off, muttering annoyed. "We only have two hours, so get prepared! I'll have a good suit ready!"  
  
Naruto scratched his head, pushed the covers off, stood and made his way to the bathroom.  
  
~~~  
  
Ino opened the closet, and looked through the large selection of clothes she'd bought Naruto only the day before. Shaking her head, she rifled through the clothes, soimetimes picking out choice sets. 'Well, I have an hour... That's more than enough...' she thought gratefully, as she pulled out a green dress shirt. "This'll look good..." she decided out loud, smiling appreciatively. Returning to the clothes, she picked out another two before taking a break.  
  
Stepping quietly to the kitchen with ladylike grace, she took the electric kettle off the heater and filled two mugs. Dropping one teabag into each, she walked to the frdge and took out the milk taking out the teabag and poured some milk into each mug. Then,. she proceeded to dump the teabags into the garbed, and stir some sugar into each mug. Finished, she smiled and returned to her chore...  
  
~~~  
  
Naruto sighed as he wrapped the towel around him and started brushing his hair. Contrary to popular belief, Uzumaki Naruto DID know how to comb his hair - He just didn't bother. Now, though, was an important time: His and Sakura's first date! Smiling, he clothed himself and walked out the door... After opening it, of course.  
  
Ino greeted him in the hall, leading (Or dragging, to be more precise) to the kitchen, she sat down and gave him a cup of tea. Staring at it blankly, as if searching for floating ramen noodles in the mug, he asked, "What's this?"  
  
"Tea, you moron!" Ino whackred him over the head for the second time that morning. "Drink it, you have a while before lunch and you need to be awake for it!"   
  
"Oh..." Naruto said, before sipping a bit and putting it down quickly. "It's HOT!" he said, surprised. Ino resisted the urge to swear, and looked at him conscendingly.   
  
"Haven't you ever drank it? But it's traditional to drink it at your- Oh...You didn't have a ninth birthday, did you?" Ino looked down, embarraesed at her blunt, unthought assumption.  
  
"I did, I just didn't do anything but train... Ichiraku-san gave me an extra bowl of ramen, though..." Naruto smiled a bit at the fond memory. "I guess that was the statrt of things getting better, right? Now I've got a few friends, some clothes, and I'm having a mug of tea! So, things have gotten a lot better since then... People aren't breaking the winmdows with stones anymore either..." he added under his breath.  
  
Ino, shocked a little at this memory, shook her head and decided it was time to end THAT conversation. "Let's try some of your clothes on, 'kay:? See what looks nice for Sakura..." Ino got up and headed to the other room. Naruto flinched as she passed. Sje stopped and looked at him strangely. "What?"  
  
"I thought you were going to hit me, or drag me by my ear or something..." Naruto said. Ino rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm not THAT violent..." she mumbled.  
  
~~~~  
  
Naruto sat on one of the benches at Ichiraku, looking around. Finally spotting Sakura, he called out and waved. She nodded to him, and mad her way through the crowd. Plopping down beside him, she grinned and signalled the server. Then, turning her head, to Naruto, she said, "Good morning, Naruto... How's you're day been?"  
  
"Fine, 'cept Ino dragged me all over the house-"  
  
"Ino? What?"  
  
"- to get me ready, made me tea and made me try on all these clothes to get a good one, then she pretty much kicked me out the door, with barely any toime to greet Yamanaka-san"  
  
"What? Why-?"  
  
"Then, she yelled after me all the way down the street. as IF I would forget my way to Ichiraku.... I go here every day, so... Sakura-chan, why are you looking at me like that? Did Kakashi-sensei not tell you?"  
  
"Tell. Me. What?" Sakura's eye was twitching now, and she was shaking. What did Ino have to do with this? Why would he greet 'Yamanaka-san', when both of Ino's parents seemed to hate him? Why hadn't he showed up for training? Or missions? And why hadn't he been at his house? She would've asked him tthe day at Concussa, but he had been unconscious.Now she was annoyed.... What had Kakashi sforgotten to mention?  
  
"Well.... I- Umm... Seen Nidaime's nose lately?" Naruto shrugged sheepishly.   
  
"Should I have?" Sakura was getting more and more annoyed as the conversation continued.  
  
"Ummmm..." Naruto looked at the countertop. "Only if you've been poking around the bushes at the bottom of the monument..."  
  
Many times, Inner Sakura had a difference in opinion with Outer Sakura. Sometimes, Inner Sakura felt about somethign so vioently and passionately that she burst into Outer Sakjura's place, and out her mouth. This was one of those occasions.  
  
The expletives that came from the mouth of the slightly uncute girl at the counter not only made her well-known companioon freeze with froight, it also caused some people to wander off quicker than normal, and was also the reason that people who had arrived after Naruto and Sakura arrived got their ramen first. Safely to say, it scared the server away from those particular seats.  
  
Sakura finally finished shouting, lookig disgusted at herself, then looked at Naruto in a way that demanded information. So scared was Naruto that he spilled everything from his punishment to the shopping spree to that morning's tea drinking. So flustered was he that Sakura took pity on him and forgave him, then attempted to swallow all the information he'd given to her.  
  
"So... You're living with Ino, her parents like you, she's buying you clothes and making you tea... AND THIS IS PUNISHMENT!?" She yelled.  
  
"Well, I don't get to come on missions or anything, neither does Ino..." Naruto said turning red in his shame.  
  
"Why's Ino off missions? Babysitting you?" Sakura joked, cooling down. Ramen man decided this was a good time. Naruto and Sakura ordered, then Naruto answered.  
  
"Something to do with some chairs broken, verbal attacking of two teachers, and screaming... From what I heard from Kakashi-sensei, she had a wild night..." Naruto smiled weakly.   
  
Sakura just stared for a second, then shook her head, not connecting thhese behaviours to her newfound relationship at all. Stupid Naruto...  
  
"I see... So you're stucj at Ino's because..."  
  
"WhenI graduated, I stopped getting welfaremoney, 'cause officially I had a paying job. So, take away my Genin pay, can't pay rent or food. So, I need to stay ayt Ino's until te punishment's over," Naruto shugged. "BNot a big deal, especially considering what might've happened, right? 'Course, they'll fix the statue, and Ino's family have paid the money for the broken stuff... So in a few weeks, I'll... be back home!" Naruto smiled, but Sakura could see what the thought of leaving that house seemed like him. A family who accepted him into their house and looked after him... It was cruel to give that to him, and then take it away after a few weeks. If that was his real punishment, Godaime-sama must have gone psycho... Naruto sure had it rough.  
  
"You're lucky Ino's looking after you. She's nicer than I thought she was..." Sakura reflected for a moment, then decided to decided more later.  
  
"Yeah..." Naruto smiled for real this time, his eyes showing his approval for the 'Psycho Sasuke fangirl' of earlier times. Whatever had happened with her that night, musyt have had a good effect on her... But she'd always been nice, Sakura thought, remembering her days as 'Forehead Girl' and the theeat to her self-esteem called Ami. Well, Ami still hadn't grduated, and Sakura had. That said a lot about the self-proclaimed 'Ultimate-awesome ninja-girl'.  
  
The two sat in silence for a feww seconds, then started small talk. Weather, birds, ferrets...Debating whether a rose or daffodil was more romantic.... That sort of thing. and once naruto had finished his fifth bowl, and Sakura her second, she handed over the money and said her goodbyes. Naruto just sat there, until he spotted a familiar face.  
  
"Oy, Ero-sennin!" he called out to his perverted sensei, and Jiraiya looked back at the boy he'd passed by without noticing.   
  
"Hey kid!" he vcalled back, before sitting down. "You know why I love women? They are like a cool suimmer breeze, flying undrr your shirt and swirling up under you're neck, or the unabashed waters of a warm shower, exploring every detail, never leaving a spot unexplored. A man's eyes may drift from place to place, but a woman notices everything... So fresh, and soft like milk... Or chocolate milk, if you like their type. I like all women, if she can please the eyes. THAT is yor lesson for today. Now, how is your situation?" Jiraiya looked into his young pupils eyes, smiling. "Problems with one of the opposite sex?"  
  
"I'mn stuck in a house living with one!" he blurted out. "She complains when I shower, complains when I get dressed, complains when I'm late..."  
  
"Ahhh... Well, maybe she is not ready for you to leave yewt... Maybe she is not finished...Oh wait, kid, you're too young. Tell me why you're 'stuck' in a house with a girl... No, wait, describe her to me... Is dshe shapely, warm and cuddly? Or the quick, violent lustre?"  
  
"Well, she IS really violent, although she's got nice hair... And she dresses good..." Naruto's eyes widened when he realised his sensei's meaning. "Hentai!" he said, smacking him ovetr the head.  
  
Jiraiya smiled, and stood. "Well, I have research to do... Unless you're planning on showing me that jutsu?"  
  
"NO!" Naruto glared and stood. "I haveta get home- Or, where I'm staying, to train!"  
  
"Yes, Naruto, go train with your lady friend... Just make sure no-ones watching!" Jiraiya winked, and disappeared.  
  
"Pervert..." Naruto grumbled under his breath, collected his thoughts, and walked off to go find Ino...  
  
----------------------------  
  
Done, finally! Today, I woke up and realised Jiraiya hadn't appeared yet, so I brought him in! I have a bit of trouble with him, so any suggestions... I know he wasn't in Plan, so he might make an appearance there too...  
  
So was this chapter better than the original, or the last? Anyways, I don't think I'm goign to get all my writing done by Monday, but I will try!  
  
- Alden 


End file.
